The clock reads une heure dix-sept. Three minutes till take-off! Read about our promenade pédestre in today's story column.
tituber (tee-too-bay) verb
: to stagger, to totter
tituber de fatigue = to stumble along
French Verb Conjugation:
je titube, tu titubes, il titube, nous titubons, vous titubez, ils titubent (pp = titubé)
Audio File: listen to today's word & verb conjugation: Download Wave or Download MP3
A Day in a French Life…
Kristin Espinasse
Sunday found us staggering through the sweet-scented hills of Rasteau, wine glasses in our hands, soiffard* songs on our hearts. An occasional tumble or slip… was not (in my case, at least…) the fault of the wine, which all but poured from the heavens along our 6-kilometer-long trek, or gourmet getaway….
The wine-fueled cacophony surrounding us, book-ended only by French hiccups, reminded us that we weren't the only ones "getting away"; nearly 2000 people turned out for the 10th annual "Escapade des Gourmets" in which hikers were lured onward and upward to the Vauclusian hills by the aroma of good wine and good food, stocked up and served around every boisterous bend in the pebbled path below us.
Beginning in the old village of Rasteau, we hiked up to the first étape* and were rewarded with a savory mise en bouche* — but not before presenting our carte de membre honoraire. I reached into the little cloth poche,* provided to all participants back at the check-in stand. There, in the pocket, which hung from a string around our necks, we could tuck our wine-glasses, wine notes, and member card, to be presented at every halt, or étape, before sampling each of the gourmandises.* For those of us who don't drink alcohol, or who were pacing ourselves, water and orange juice were provided.
After the first appetizer (une tranche de caillette* and a few toasts de tapenade*) we stepped soberly forward… but not for long. At the second étape, another kilometer or so upland, we were served une tranche de foie gras* and a glass of vin doux naturel doré.* That's when the giggling began… and complete strangers began to cozy up beside the band. The first animation* (there would be several such distractions both to entertain hikers and keep minds off the miles…) was a two-man reggae band, "Manbouss".
"Rastafariing" our way back to the route, we were on our way to the third stop when the rain began to trickle down. I put my camera away and enjoyed the scene surrounding us, the heady scents of genêt* and pine intensifying the experience. The collines* were carpeted with flowers! There was my favorite, "Lily of Spain," (valerian) in red, and hills of electric blue blossoms.
More mets provençaux met us around the next corner… and the dégustation des vins continued. This time a feuilleté provençal* and several côtes-du-Rhône rosés. By now the crowds were gathered beneath the trees, for shelter against the rain, and at this point those saucy chansons paillardes began. I asked one of the young women in our group, Céline, to tell me about these "drinking songs". "Oh, you know," she said, the lyrics are not very fine…"* I have heard these songs for as long as I have lived in France (indeed, they were sung at my own wedding… near 3 a.m. in the morning!), now I could put a name to the songs, even if the raunchy face-reddening lyrics still escape me. These bar-room ballads certainly don't escape the French, whether at a bar, at a marriage, or in the heaven-scented hinterlands of Provence.
After three more stops (for jambon braisé,* which we ate while seated on pine-needles, cheese, which we savored while sitting on a steep slope, and dessert, enjoyed at the church at the top of the old down) we finally rolled into Rasteau (or titubed into town) chatting all the while with strangers, who were, now, more like old shipmates, or merry matelots,* in time to navigate the winding French roads… with the help of us designated drivers who had filled up on orange juice and eau.*
***
Comments, corrections, and stories of your own — are always appreciated and welcome! Thank you for using the comments box.
Note: over a dozen more photos from Rasteau, and the surrounding hills, will be featured in this weekends Cinéma Vérité. Don't miss it!
~~~~~~~~~~~~Selected French Vocabulary~~~~~~~~~
soiffard(e) = drunkard; la dégustation (f) de vins = wine tasting, la mise (f) en bouche = appetizer; la poche (f) = pocket; les gourmandises (fpl) = delicacies; une tranche (f) de caillette = a slice of caillette (round pork sausage); la tapenade (f) = a crushed olive paste; le vin (m) doux naturel doré = a sweet golden-colored wine; une animation (f) = organized activity; le genêt (m) = scottish broom; la colline (f) = hill; les mets provencaux (mpl) = Provençal dishes; le feuilleté (m) Provençal = Provençal pastries; fine = refined ; le jambon (m) braisé = braised ham; titubed (tituber) = Frenglish for swayed; le matelot (m) = sailor; l'eau (f) = water
Announcements:
Art Show / Vernissage in Aix-en-Provence : Monday, May 11th from 6-8 pm, Atélier Marchutz: 5, Ave Général Préaud (Art show of American students who come to Aix-en-Provence to paint en plein air.)
Three Random Words:
le taon = horsefly, gadfly
périmé(e) = out-of-date, expired
le gavage (m) = force-feeding
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Kristin, I think the well-worn phrase, “a good time was had by all,” is apt in describing your outing yesterday. Sounds like great fun. Once again the French show us how to maximize the joy of eating.
You all sound to have a wonderful day.
Will have to try and get to this one year.
I really enjoy reading your stories.
The French Word-A-Day used to come with a french sentence using the word of the day. I really liked that part, since it provided a larger sense of the word. Is there a reason why it was deleted?
I’ve been a subscriber for a couple of years now, and I find this daily vocabulary lesson a real help!
Indulging and minimizing the results simultaneously – how I wish I were there!
Thanks for putting more French words in your stories, Kristin. How I look forward to going to my computer every Mon, Wed, and Fri to read your post!
Ann
Kristin, I bet I’d like hiking more if it were done “a la francaise.” Fun to read about your adventures. As for vocab, Oxford-Hachette says tapenade is f.; and feuillete is an adj., so I’m not sure about that one. Maybe that is how it is said in Provence, instead of the formal “patisserie feuilletee Provencale.” Je suis trop meticuleuse?
Diane: thanks for the correction. As for feuilléte: I see that it is both an adj. and masculine noun
Carla: Good point! Here are some examples:
1) “Dans un bistro de quartier, trois ivrognes titubent.”
2) “Mais l’économie américaine devrait éviter le désastre : “Les Etats-Unis, en début d’année, vont tituber au bord de la récession…”
3) “Les amateurs, eux, titubent entre l’optimisme et le pessimisme quant au sort de la boxe au Québec.”
1)http://www.cafebabel.com/fre/article/29827/gerhard-gluck-caricaturiste-allemand-presse.html
2) http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/monde/europe/0,,3668703,00-quand-financial-times-predit-avenir-.html
3) http://lcn.canoe.ca/lcn/sports/nouvelles/archives/2004/03/20040320-181544.html
This sounds so fun! Just waiting for a chance to get back to France – would have loved to do this. Your using the word “matelot” reminded me of my first embarrasing vocabulary issue my very first weekend in France (in grad school). I was responding to questions about our search for an apartment and comments that we’d probably find them so much smaller than in the states. I begged to disagree since I had just roomed with a girl in one so small that I slept on a mat that we kept under the bed during the day. Unfortunately (but to much hilarity) I substituted “matelot” for “matelat” – sailor instead of mat! We were quite popular after that…
Hello Kristin,
What a joy to follow the group, “étape par étape”, rambling through sweet-scented hills, enjoying les “pauses dégustation”, singing…. All the delicacies and Provençal dishes “m’ont mis l’eau à la bouche” (made my mouth water)
Mille mercis pour la photo at the top of the newsletter.. I love “la verdure exubérante”, the bells, the details of architecture, …… the soft creamy roses, the picturesque stone wall… My eyes got pleasantly distracted by the vibrant blue of the shutters. What a delightful spot!
Very happy to see so many wild red valerian flowers on the 3rd photo!
I’m wondering ‘what’ were the electric blue blossoms carpeting the hills (blue bells perhaps?)
Thanks for the jolly song. I’ll try to find a link giving “les paroles” of three “chansons à boire” pas grivoises (not bawdy…) I can think of.
PS Just read Diane H’s post.
-> Yes, it is “la” tapenade.
-> “feuilleté”, as an adjective, agree with the noun -> “la pâte feuilletée” (puff pastry / flaky pastry)
Here, it is used as a general noun – masculine. There are “feuilletés sucrés” (ex -> les chaussons aux pommes) and there are “feuilletés salés /non sucrés” (ex -> “les vol au vent”, or “les feuilletés au chèvre”, au jambon …)
To Sandy Who Sleeps on Sailors: thanks for the giggle.
Kristin,
I hadn’t read your post when I sent mine!
You’ll get my e-mail regarding the last line.
Here are the lyrics of 3 popular “chansons à boire” (pas “grivoises”). So far, I haven’t found the music on the internet.
-> Boire un petit coup, c’est agréable
http://bmarcore.club.fr/boire/B104.htm
-> Chevaliers de la Table Ronde
http://bmarcore.club.fr/boire/B107.htm
-> Chantons la vigne
http://www.culture-libre.org/wiki/Chantons_la_vigne
Thanks, Newforest, for the links to the drinking songs. When I was of a tender age, still in high school, I learned the song, Chevaliers de la Table Ronde…..at least I learned the first few verses. I now look at my French teacher in a whole new light as I read the remaining verses of the song! hmmmm …there was much more to her than I ever knew!
I remember a French drinking song that was sung at a vendange party in the Poitu area of France.
The only line that I can remember was “bois comme les autres,” but I can still hear the melody and remember the lovely time we had with a French chorale.
My hangover, however, afterwards was not so pleasant.
Does anyone out there have the rest of the lyrics to that song?
Sandy, I was young too when I learned the song: “Chevaliers de la Table Ronde”. I am quite sure I wasn’t taught verses 4, 5 & 6 mentioned on the link given in my last post. I now know there is a verse after verse 3 that doesn’t even appear here, saying he would drink 5 or 6 bottles, “une femme sur les genoux” (with a woman sitting on his lap)…
Diane, “je me creuse la tête” (thinking very hard indeed) but, so far, … “bois comme les autres” doesn’t ring a bell!
Diane: Does this sound familiar?:
Ami(e)
Lève ton verre
Et surtout ne le renverse pas
Et porte le
Au frontibus
Au nasibus
Au mentibus
Au ventribus
Au sexibus
Et glou, et glou, et glou…
Il (elle) est des nôtres
Il (elle) a bu son verre comme les autres
C’est un (une) ivrogne,
Ça se voit rien qu’à sa trogne.
PS: it’s fun, sitting around here (in the comments box) singing “beer” songs with y’all!
Yes, Kristin, that’s it! I will copy the words in my French song file. Thank you so much!
Bye the way, Kristin, do you know the name of that song, if there is a name.
Rebonjour, Diane! You might try “Ami(e) Lève Ton Verre”. Still, I don’t think that is the exact name…. Tip: You will find a lot of “drunk French videos” on YouTube, by typing in “frontibus”, or some other word from the song. Enjoy (at your own risk…)!
Kristin
This sounds absolutely wonderful. I would love to start something like that here in San Francisco. I have been hiking with the same friends for nearly 20 years, and we so love gourmet food. Having been to Le Cordon Bleu, it certainly has been fun teaching them the steps to gourmet cooking. Thank you for sharing this.
A bientot
Nicole
Kristin,
Would it be possible to include the article (where appropriate) and the meaning in the heading along with the daily word? I would find it very helpful to see the meaning (and start trying to learn/remember whether the noun is masculine or feminine) as soon I open the email. Do others agree?
Thanks as always for a fabulous creation — you do a magnificent job!
Neil
Diane,
You’ve probably found out by now that the title of the song is: “Il est des nôtres”.
Neil,
The meaning (translation) of the ‘word of the day’ is usually given a few lines under the photo at the top of each Newsletter. There wouldn’t be any space for it in the heading.
Articles only apply when the ‘word of the day’ is a Noun.
Here again, you simply have to look a couple of lines under the photo where the ‘word of the day’ is presented. If the word is a Noun, Kristin always lets her know about its gender → masculine or feminine… so, it’s fine.
I noticed that, very occasionally, the definite or indefinite article is in the heading, preceding the noun (and repeated a few lines under the photo). Examples since beginning of 2009:
la Grande Ourse, la confiture, la routine, le rosier, une pantoufle, la frangine, la grippe porcine.
For all the other nouns, no article in the heading, but the gender is always mentioned a few lines under the photo at the beginning of the newsletter, so, nothing missing!
All the best!
What a splendid description of a beautiful day!
Thank you.
Nicole,
let me know if and when vous formez un groupe de gourmets pour une balade en plein air à San Francisco !
nadine
Nicole: would love to join you and Nadine for an Escapade des gourmets in SF. Great idea!
Newforest: thanks for answering Neil’s quetion. FYI: the article usually is posted after the noun (i.e.: “chien [shyen] noun, masculine”) so as to avoid having to include it in the pronunciation guide each time. I ought to do a poll, and ask if readers prefer to see the article before the noun…
Mona: Thanks so much! I regret to have left out so much information in this article: Ex: the entertainment — at every “étape” there was an “animation” (a funny 3-man theater awaited us, as well as a quasi French “Blues Brothers” duo… there was “The Woman in Red Patent Leather Shoes” we’ll call her, who played the guitar… and another trio, further down the path, one on the accordian, one playing guitar — both sharing a tiny umbrella beneath the rain! The final band (a young group of artists) sang a hilarious song about “les pulls de ma grand-mère” or grandmother’s hand-knit sweaters and how they planned, more or less, on boycotting them!
Hi, Kristin, a great description of what sounds like a great day. I’m so sorry we weren’t there to experience it. Is there a website or some way to find out about these wonderful events in advance (as someone living in the French Alps I’m not up on the Provence local life)?
There were no drinking songs at our wedding two weeks ago but Bernard’s friends actually composed two songs for us and sang them at the wedding dinner, complete with tuba, flute, and guitar! What a blast that was! And our French wedding cake had fireworks! Cynthia
Hi Kristin…this so reminds me of the fun we used to have when we lived in the country when our kids were little and used to go along with friends and family to the Rutherglen Winery Walkabouts! So much fun with each winery combining wine tastings with small culinery delights from the area whether it be entree, a meal tasting or dessert. Lunch was a walkabout taking all day! Music, fairs, games and lots of fun in the warm autumn weather! I KNOW you all had a great time!!!